Plural conveyer arrangement



Aug. 23, 1949.

Filed March 3, 1945 E. A. ERNST PLURAL CONVEYER ARRANGEMENT" 2 Sheets-Sheetl Aug. 23, 1949. E. A. ERNST 2,479,823

PLURAL CONVEYER ARRANGEMENT Filed March \3, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VEN TOR.

EA KLA. E F0151. BY

Patented Aug. 23, 1949 Y -1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,479,823 PLURAL coNvEYEn ARRANGEMENT Earl A. Ernst, Bakersfield, Calif. v Application March 3, 1945, serial No. 580,890 4'c1aims. (ci. 19a- 89) l I Y 1 This invention is in relation to conveyors for Fig. 1 shows a preferred form of the invention carrying articles, etc. upon endless belts to parin side elevation. ticular places, the conveyors or groups thereof Fig. 2 is a plan View of Fig. 1. being constructed and arranged for extension Fig. 3 is an end elevational View at the left and contraction coupled with pivoting means for end of Fig. 1. connecting two or more of the conveyors so that Iiig` 4 is an end elevational view at the right articles can be carried in angled directions should end of Fig. 1. straight line conveyance not be feasible or de- Fig. 5 is a partly sectional and a partly elesired. The conveyors are of the portable type vational portion of Fig. 1 taken substantially so that they can be coupled at will and shifted along the line 5--5 thereof, and drawn to a from place to place where needed. Such an inlarger scale. vention as this is especially useful in the load- Fig. 6 is a plan view taken substantially along ing and unloading of trucks and freight cars in the line 6--6 of Fig. 1, and drawn to a larger that the conveyors can readily be shifted and scale.

angled to connect trucks and cars with a sta- This particular showing of the invention intonary unit, for instance, a potato cleaning, cludes the combination of two endless belt units grading and sacking unit or system. indicated in general by the reference characters Therefore, a plurality of conveyor units are I and 2. Each one of the units comprises a woodarranged having pivot connection with one anen plank framework having the elongated side other, the pivot connection means kbeing posimembers 3 and 4 and the cross end members 5. tioned upon a, Carriage or truck which is adapted The end members are fOr the lOWel ends Of the to run along any conveyor unit or units so that units' t0 aVOid 105s 0f articles which are being' the conveyor units are not only pivoted together conveyed t0 the upper 01' higher ends 0f each for angle-directional carriage of articles. but also Unt- SCleWed 0r bolted t0 each Side plank iS eXtensible and contractable; this construction a Channel iron member 9 the edgeS 0f Which are making it possible to Connect any loading and flush with the outer sides of the planks so as delivery platform with a specific station within to acommodate the plurality 0f upl'ights ribs 0r reasonable distances. angle-irons I which are welded thereto. The

one of the principal Objects of this invention webs of these angle-irons 1 are screwed or bolted is to p1.esent a new and novel System for the to the sides oi the planks so as to give rigidity transferance of articles from one station to anto the plank sldes' other with dispatch and Safety the means em The endless belt unit 2 1s supported from the ployed being Simple and sturdy in construction, grqund by the Short legs (fr angle'lrons 8 am? 9 and economical to make and manufacture. Whlch are .amxed to the Sldes of th? planks hke Ano-ther object is to provide a plurality of endthe angle'lrons and have at.the1r lower ends less belts, chain or the like, for carrying articles the swlvel .casters lo Angle-Iron Cross'peams which have means for pivoting them together II are provided between the short legs to tie the for transferance of articles from one belt to anlegs and. hence? ms tsldes tPgether A slmllar other, trucking means being provided so that the 49 Support 1s provlde a the hlgh end of the endless belt unit which comprises the long legs or length of the belt-combination can be extended or Contracted at will. angle-irons I2 and I3 and the cross tie-beam I4, these le s also hav'n th s iv s er I0. Othr Ob'efts advantages and features of my At the tog of the long. lgegs (|22 gndell mista glatmveritwn Wm appm from, the accqmpanymg form I5 of rectangular form and fabricated from drawings, the subiomed detailed description, the a plurality of ang1e irons and plates in an ob preamblel (2f these Speclcatlons and the apvious manner for supporting an electric motor IB pended, C alms' Ior any other kind or type of power device. Short Appllcant is about to illustrate and describe legs |1 also give Support to the motor platform one of the forms of his invention in order to and have the Webs of their angle-irons Screwed teach one how to make and use the. same, but it 50 or bolted to the Side planks,

is to be understood that the drawings and .de- A1; eachend of endIess belt unit z is a roller, scription thereof are not to limit the invention the roller I8 having its ends journalled in bearing in any sense whatsoever, except as limited by the brackets iixed to the-,bottoms of the channels 6, appended claims. and a roller I9 which has its ends journalled in In the drawings: shiftable bearings guided in the slots of plates 20 endless chain or belt 26, so that power can beU transferred from the motor to the endless belt 23.

The elements and parts of unit yI which arethe same as the elements or parts of unit 2 have been Y given the same reference characters so as to simplify the description as muchas possible, fbut'the planks along the sides of the top conveyor have been indicated as 3 and 4f.

On each side of the unit 2,{jrust a little bellow the top 'edges of the side planks-3 and ujarefixed thereto the track channels v2'! and 28,'the'channels being Yscrewed orrboltdto the planken-hd welded to the tops of the angie'iroris "l, 8 and 9 and to the sides ,of the long legs I2 and I3. This track orrail means `21;-28 'supportsa shiitabie carriage or truck 29 having the two wheels 30 and 3l on each sidev thereof, said carriage supporting on the top thereof ahalf circle 'nionorai comprisingthe'top edge "of a curved "angle-iron 32. On this monorail operate three wheels or pulleys indicatedat 33, 34 yand 35, thewheels supporting the endframe work which supportsthe high end of .the endless belt unit I. This end frame work comprisesa curved angle-iron 36 whlchis firmly fixed tothe top of the yokes'of the pulley wheels 33,134 and 35"and which isV also xed'to the end of the unit by the pivot joints 31, 38 and 39, the extensions 13G and fil,l and'meinber 42;. as shown. The member 4'2 comprises a'pipe 43 with a closed lower end. In 'the other end of the v.pipe is a .rod 44" having av disc 45 fixed thereto which' can readily. slide in the bore ofpipe 43. The upper end lofthe rod is pivoted at`46 toa'side of the motor platform. Within the pipe there isa compression spring Il'l for. the purpose of keeping the wheel 3a upon the rail 32 when the far Nend of the unit I `is lifted and shifted about.

By the foregoing explained l arrangement. of parts', theunits I and `2, as a combination, .can be shortened or extended, and angled to suit most any condition for the loading and unloading of wagons and trucks at platforms, etc. with .re- 'spent 'to a fixed stationary device, such as for instance, a potato cleaning and grading machine.

Obviously, the short legs of both unit'sand the long'legs ofthe bottom unit may be constructed so that they can vbe shortened 'or lengthened for the purposes of adjusting the ievelsof their respective endless belts. Furthermore, the-tracks Zl-EB'and also the 'monorail 36 may'have any suitable type or kind of suitable adjustable stop element or elements'to prevent movement `of the wheels thereonwhen work. V

It is; ofcourse, understood lthativarious changes and modifications may be made in the details of form, style, design'and construction ofthe Whole orany part ofthe specifically describedembodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modications being restricted only by the limitationsclearly expressed 'in the following claims; Y

theJ units are positioned for Having thus described my invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a portable endless belt combination, a lower conveyor unit and an upper conveyor unit, means supporting the ends of the lower unit from a oor and other means supporting one end of the upper unit from a floor, the other end of the upper unit being V supported by the lower unit, a trackzrail along -each side of the lower unit, a truck having wheels on each rail which support a: curved track, a curved frame pivotally attached to the said other end of the upper unit whi'cl'iv has Wheels journalled thereto and which nride uponthe curved track, a pivoted tube attached to the curved frame having a compression spring lthereln: and .a plunger means, the plunger means having a rod attached thereto which extends'from the tube and is pivotally connected with a portion of the said other end of the upper unit.'y

2. In a" conveyor combination comprising a plurality-of endlessfbelt units, two ofthe units having a connection device, the device consisting of "ashiftable carriage adapted to ride along a portionl of one of the said units, the carriage having a curved monorail means and the end of the other of said units havingy a framework withwheelssupported by themonorail, pivot means connecting the said other unit vwithzthe ramework, the `pivotA means including anv extension withf resilient means V-wlriichmakes a self-adjust# ingl strutto aid in rkeeping-'the wheels on the monorail'.'

3J The combination recited inclaim 2 wherein theextension consists of a tube-pivotally con nected to thel frameworkand having'in the borev thereof afplunger'unde'r spring pressure to maintainthe extension in extended'position, a rod connected to the plunger-and having its other end pivotally `connected 1to1 a high `point at the'said endfof theother ofA said units;

l1.-:[11 afconveyor'combination` comprising an uppeifconveyor' unit "and a lower conveyor unit,- theicwer y'conveyor unit having a rail attached alongfeaeh Alongitudinal side thereof to present -a pair "of rails; a carriage' having 'wheels `mounted on the pair of rails, a curvedf'monorail fixed to a ytop-,sideY of the carriage,Y a curved framework extending Vfrom an lend of the upper unit having a-centerwheel 'andrend wheels mounted on the said monorail, a pair of trunnions extending up` wardly from the framework above the end Wheels and having means for hinging'the frameworky to atrend oiV theupper unit, and a self-adjustable resilient strut having one end thereof pivoted to a high point of an end of the upper unit and the other endh thereof pivotedto the iframeworkover the center. wheel-thereof.

EARL A.` ERNST.

REFERENCES CITED The4 following` references are' of lrecord in*V the re of-thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,271,627 Stuart July 9, 1918 1,576,910 Hudson f Mar. 16, 1926 1,818,168 Smith Aug. 11, 1931 1,932,891 Jaggard Oct. 31, 1933 

